The Flower of Memories
by Aiiro Hart
Summary: I never really liked flowers; they give me allergies. Yet I always buy some every Thursday from a girl with a flower cart. Her name is Ino, and we grew up together. Her name is Ino, and she forgot me when I moved away. Her name is Ino, and I've been in love with her ever since we first met, twenty eight years ago. InoXShika One-shot


**Well, here's a little ShikaXIno one-shot inspired on true memories of mine X'D I hope you enjoy it and please review to let me know what you think! **

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**The Flower of Memories**

I never really liked flowers. They die quickly, they're a waste of money, and they give me allergies. Flowers only waste space and are really of no value; sure, they look pretty in nature and girls love them and whatnot, but, really, what good could a flower possibly do? These troublesome thoughts always draw a sigh from me when my mother sends me to either pick or buy some for her. I walked the calm streets of a late afternoon in Konoha.

Yeah, I never liked flowers. They give me allergies and they're too colorful for my taste. And yet I used to buy flowers from a girl near my apartment complex every Thursday. I used to try talking to her a few times; just trying to figure out why she always looks so sad. Her name is Ino Yamanaka, and she owns a little flower cart she pushes and pulls around town, selling flowers she grew in her back yard. Her name is Ino, and we grew up together. Her name is Ino, and she forgot me when I moved away. Her name is Ino, and I've been in love with her ever since we first met, twenty eight years ago.

I remember I was walking home one Friday afternoon after my afterschool Kendo practice. I was tired, sore and with a great appetite for grilled meat and potatoes. I slowly trudged down a dirt road that crossed through the forest to get home. Out of all of the roads I could take to get home, I always preferred this one because people rarely used it. After Konoha's main streets were paved, the townspeople stopped resorting to muddy dirt roads and dark, lonely forests. I guess concrete and cobblestone are more convenient for merchants trying to get away from the common rainy climate of this region. That day, as I enjoyed the usual calming sounds of lonely nature, completely undisturbed my man, I heard an unusual sound. A sob was coming from the plains behind the bushes to my left. I wondered so many things. I wondered who it could be; I wondered why they would be crying, and where. I wondered if they were lost; if they were scared or even hurt. I walked towards the sound and hoped it wasn't anything serious. Everyone knows this area is kind of dangerous. Behind these bushes were a big flowery plain –which I usually avoid- and a big, deep and clear watered lake. A few feet away stood a strong and blooming cherry blossom tree; underneath its shadow was the source of the sobs and hiccups that I heard. It was a girl; with her legs tucked close to her shaking body and her face tucked on her skinned knees as her long, knotted and messy blond hair fell like a curtain around her shoulders. She was crying hysterically, and for some reason the sight of her crying underneath the cherry blossom tree with countless petals falling and flowing through the air, in the middle of the plain, left me breathless. It was a sad sight, but also very beautiful; the kind an artist would like to paint, the perfect balance between the beauty of nature and the sorrow of man. I remember that the moment I stepped closer and stepped on a fallen branch, the sound almost echoed in the nearly silent field. Her head snapped up to the sound and my eyes were met with icy blue orbs, rimmed red and swollen from all the crying. She said nothing, she didn't yell for me to go away, she didn't glare at me or threw rocks at me; she simply stared.

I walked towards her slowly; I sat in front of her and asked her why she cried. For a moment, her eyes met mine before they closed and cried more. She sobbed and said "because I just lost my best friend for a boy I don't even like". She told me this tree reminded her of her friend because her name was Sakura, and her hair was pink, just like the cherry blossoms. I think I've seen her once before. She told me she and her friend were always very competitive with each other, and when she noticed her friend liked the infamous heartthrob of their class, she dared her friend to see who would get him first. She never meant any of it, but it seems the pink haired girl declared war and branded her the enemy. I eventually moved to sit beside her, and she leaned on my shoulder and cried until the sun faded. I remember I walked her home; I was surprised she lived in a flower shop. She turned to me and smiled gently and said "My name is Ino Yamanaka by the way, it's nice to meet you" "Shikamaru Nara" was all I said, and with a nod I bid her goodbye.

After that day, Ino and I would cross paths often. Whether it was in town, in school, between classes or in the field by the forest, we always saw each other. I was in love with her before I realized it. We spent every day together, we played together and she accompanied me when I had to train with my Kendo team. There I introduced her to my childhood friend, Choji Akimichi. The two made friends quickly, and before we knew it, we called ourselves the Ino-Shika-Cho. It was funny, really. Ino really did want to be like the three musketeers in stories, so often she would beg Choji and me to teach her Kendo. She was quite agile at it, and managed to beat us a couple of times. Every day, after Choji's dad would come to pick him up, Ino and I would keep practicing and pretending to be fencing. She and I bonded, or at least that's how I saw it.

I remember the summer passed, so did fall and winter, and Ino and I only grew closer. In spring, I asked her to go to the spring festival with me. I was but a 12 year old in love about to make my first confession to a girl ever. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I was panicking inside, a nervous wreck, and the day before I asked her, I couldn't sleep or eat anything because of the anxiety piling up. She said yes, and I was ecstatic. I was finally going to confess my feelings for her and somehow hope she felt the same. The evening before the festival I had parted ways with her on her doorstep and headed home. The moment I stepped into my house, I knew something was wrong. The furniture was gone, the entrance and hall were cluttered with cardboard boxes. "We're moving to the sand village. Your stuff was already packed and sent there." My dad had said. He offered no explanation; no time to say goodbye.

I wrote her a letter. I swiftly wrote her a letter I couldn't even re-read while I was in the car with my father. I asked him to at least stop when we passed the flower shop. Thankfully he did, and I went to deliver my letter to her. Her parents told me she was at the festival, waiting for me. And I know I would never make it. I couldn't. I remember I called Choji on my way out of the village, crying a little and begging him to go in my place. To tell her what happened and deliver my letter. To tell her I loved her.

I moved to Sunagakure and excelled in everything I could. I became the Kendo champion of the region and won a scholarship. I went to law school and excelled in all my classes. I was determined to become the best, so I could finally return home. So I could finally return to her side. I returned a licensed thirty year old lawyer. The moment I stepped into Konoha I began looking for her. I had already acquired an apartment before coming back, completely furnished and recently stocked with food by my friend Choji, who told me he was now happily married and with three children. After catching up with Choji, I looked for her. I looked for her everywhere. I remember I found her at the corner of my apartment complex, selling flowers on a cart. I lost my breath. She was as beautiful as ever. Her figure had matured into that of a beautiful woman, her strawberry blond locks had grown down to her waist, her icy blue eyes shining in the summer sun. The purple sundress she wore that day accentuated her feminine figure.

I remembered how one minute broke my heart and made all the years I spent planning just disappear. I remember I talked to her, and she smiled at me, a smile she gave to any customer, and offered me flowers. Could she not recognize me, or was she just acting? I couldn't tell. I bought a sunflower, for lack of creativity, just to do something, to see if she said something. But she did not. She never did. I went by every Thursday, to at least make small talk with her.

I asked her what her life was like, in a polite, non-creepy way of course. I'm a lawyer after all; I don't want to be accused of being a stalker or anything. My first love was out of my reach. She had three children and was happily married. What happened to my letter? Didn't Choji ever give it to her? Didn't he ever tell her I loved her and that I would return? I guess he never did. He never told her what happened. He never delivered my letter. He never told her I loved her. Instead, he married her. My first love married my best friend and forgot all about me. I was happy for him, I really was. But a part of me was a little too broken, a little too ashamed, and a little too lonely. I returned to Sunagakure and continued my work. I drowned in it until I could ignore my loneliness completely, until I could ignore myself, if only for a little while. Before I realized it, I was in unbearable pain. My most sincere feelings from long ago were smothered by my pain, drowned in my work. But that had to stop. And I did stop it. Many years went by before I returned to Konoha for a business trip. I never sold my apartment, so when I returned to Konoha; it was just as I left it. And Ino's flower cart was still in the same corner of my apartment complex. One day I walked past her without stopping for a flower. I stopped a few feet away and asked her

"Why are you always so sad?" I heard her gasp. I saw her reflection through the coffee shop window near me. She was looking at me, crying; a sad smile gracing her lips. With a sad and bitter chuckle, she said the most nostalgic words I would ever hear "Because I lost my best friend for a boy I don't even like".

_"Suddenly, I was keenly aware that we wouldn't be able to remain together forever. The overwhelming power of our lives, the boundless vastness of time were stretching hopelessly before us. Every minute felt like an eternity time, clearly as if it had malicious intent, slowly ebbing away from me. I clenched my teeth, and keeping myself from crying was the only thing I could do..." - Touno Takaki _

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**FIN**

**Well this is the end of this little sort-of-sad one-shot XD I hope you enjoyed it and leave a review letting me know what you think! Also, I invite you to read some of my other one-shots and/or story I'm working on! Thank you and until next time!**

**-Aiiro Hart **


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